Iran’s exiled Crown Prince, Reza Pahlavi, urges Trump to “intervene immediately” so the regime “finally falls”

Washington – Reza Pahlavi, the exiled Iranian prince, called on President Trump to take over the Iranian regime sooner rather than later, as protestors in their country to go to the streets despite a fatal attack.

In an interview with CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell on Monday, Pahlavi said, “We need action to be taken.”

“The best way to ensure that there will be fewer people killed in Iran is to intervene quickly, so this regime eventually collapses and ends all the problems we are facing,” he said.

Pahlavi has lived in exile since his father, the last shah of Iran, was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ushered in the current clerical regime.

He said he has spoken with the Trump administration, but did not disclose details of their conversations.

He also said that the Islamic Republic’s latest communication with the administration is a strategy to try to extinguish it nationwide protests that threatens the rule of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mr. Trump told reporters on Sunday night that he had spoken with Iranian leaders on Saturday, saying they had “called for dialogue” as he threatened military action against the regime. Mr. Trump said he was considering his options after appearing to draw a red line on Friday when he warned that the US would get involved if the regime started “killing people like they’ve been doing before.”

“We will be hitting them hard where it hurts,” said Mr. Trump on Friday. “And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them hard, hard where it hurts.”

White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt said Monday that all options sit on the table, including airstrikes.

Pahlavi said the red lines of Mr. Trump has already been outdone by the regime, which is now “trying to trick” the world into thinking it is ready to negotiate a way out of this mess.

“What will change the game is that this regime knows that it can no longer rely on the ongoing campaign of repression unless the world responds to it,” he said.

When asked if he is forcing Mr. Trump to initiate regime change, Pahlavi said the president is in a relationship with the Iranian people, which means “in the end he is supporting them in their request.”

“And they are asking that this government should go,” he said.

Pahlavi about whether he is responsible for the death of the protesters

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, more than 500 people have been killed and more than 10,000 have been arrested as the protests continue into their third week.

When asked if there is a responsibility to send Iranians to their deaths by encouraging them to take to the streets as the regime leads to violent attacks, Pahlavi did not answer directly, but said: “This is war and war has risks.”

“In order to preserve and protect and reduce the number of deaths, to reduce the number of innocent victims and to be killed again by this regime, it is necessary to take action,” he said.

Pahlavi, who has tried to position himself as Iran’s revolutionary leader, has been seen as the voice of the Iranian people abroad. He pointed out that the chants of his name during the protests show the legitimacy of the role he can play, although it is not clear how much support he actually has within the country.

“Why am I giving my help to Iran? I am answering their call,” he said. “I’m a bridge, not a destination right now.”

Pahlavi has not set foot in Iran for nearly 50 years. But when asked if he was willing to die for this cause, he answered yes, then pointed to the fearlessness of those who were at the forefront of the protests.

“How is it possible that I am not ready to die for them? To die for freedom, to die to save our nation? I am willing to do that,” he said.

That’s what makes the current protests different

Pahlavi also talked about how the current protests, which broke out last month due to the collapse of the country’s currency, are different from the protests of the past.

“Today, asking is not just about bringing changes, even if that is an economic necessity. Now it is about ending this regime. This is really a change in the world,” he said.

Another thing is that Mr. Trump is in the White House, he said. (Mr. Trump was also president during the protests in Iran in 2018 and 2019, which did not result in regime change.)

“Unlike other predecessors of the current American president, he is a articulate man,” said Pahlavi.